Riverbend Reunion(81)

“I don’t think so.” Wade took a few steps toward the door, and this time he stayed in the shadows, where he could watch Jessica walk across the room. He drank in his fill of her, but he was not oblivious to several other men who couldn’t take their eyes off her, either.

“Wade Granger?” A guy startled him when he spoke. “Is that really you?”

“It is,” Wade said, and tried to put a name with the familiar face.

“Are you really here with Jessica Callaway?” the man asked.

Wade quickly read his name tag, but still didn’t remember him. “Yes, Adam, she really is with me. Lucky man, ain’t I?”

“I’d say so.” Adam clamped a hand on his shoulder. “I hear you are putting in a new business out there in that old church that’s been standing empty for years. If you need anything for your new bar, from road signs to business cards, give me a call. I’m in the advertising business, and I’d love to help you out.” He whipped out a card that said “Adam Pritchard Signs and More” on it, and stuck it in Wade’s shirt pocket.

“Thanks. Jessica and I are about to leave. Y’all have a great evening,” Wade said. He and Oscar had already talked about hiring another guy named Zach for the job, but if he was too busy, they just might call on Adam.

“I can think of better places to have a good time,” Adam chuckled, “but my wife loves these reunions. I’d rather be home watching a ball game on television, or even mowing the yard.”

“I hear you,” Wade said with a nod.

Adam walked away and spoke to Jessica when he passed her coming back across the floor. Wade suddenly felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. Danny had been right—Wade had lost his nerd status, and it was all because of Jessica.



“So where do we go now?” Jessica asked once they were outside.

“Wherever you want,” Wade answered as he led her across the parking lot and opened the truck door for her. “We came. We saw. We listened. We left.”

“I like the last part best of all,” Jessica said.

“Me too.” Wade closed the door and then hurried around the back of the truck.

Jessica was glad that she had come, because for the first time ever, she didn’t feel like a giant sunflower in a flower bed with a bunch of pretty little pansies or even marigolds. She was there with Wade Granger. Back in their high school days, he’d been passed over just like she had been, but tonight, she’d seen the way the women all took a second look at him. Brenda had certainly not been the only one at the reunion who would like to have a chance at him. She was just the one brazen enough to try to get between Jessica and him.

“Name your poison,” Wade said when he was behind the steering wheel.

“Let’s drive to Killeen and get a hamburger and french fries,” Jessica suggested. “I didn’t eat much of that supper. I guess I’ve been spoiled to Risa’s cooking, because what we had tonight tasted like sawdust mixed with a little cheese.”

Wade started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. “Your golden chariot, a.k.a. my white pickup truck, will take the princess wherever she wants to go. And, honey, I would love a big bacon cheeseburger with extra pickles. I agree with you about being spoiled to Risa’s cooking.”

“I noticed that you were pretty quiet at dinner. Those people didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, did they?” she asked.

Wade braked at a stop sign. “Nope. Did they intimidate you?”

“Not one bit. I was there with the best-lookin’ guy to ever graduate from Riverbend High School,” she answered.

“They didn’t bother me, either,” Wade told her, “because I was too focused on you to even see anyone else.”

“That may be the most romantic thing a guy has ever said to me,” Jessica said.

“Then you must have been dating fools.” Wade chuckled.

“Probably so, but not a one of them ever lost their taste for food because they were sitting beside me at an event,” she told him.

Wade turned onto the highway leading to Killeen and set the cruise control to the speed limit. “I have a confession to make. I had a crush on you in high school, and I wanted to ask you to go to the prom with me when I was a senior and you were a sophomore.”

“Why didn’t you?” That was the same year Jessica had had a crush on Wade. She couldn’t help but wonder what their lives would have been like if he had asked her out. Would they have hit it off as well as they were doing these days? Would they have wound up together and had a family by now? Or would they have hated each other and ruined what they had this evening?

“Fear of rejection,” Wade admitted. “You were way out of my league.”

“I’ll have to disagree with you on that, but for one second let’s say you were right. What about now?” Jessica asked. “Have I come down, or have you come up? I feel like you are way out of my league.”

Wade jerked his head around to stare at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Would you have gone with me if I’d asked?”

“Probably so,” Jessica said with a slight nod. “I had a crush on you at that same time, and Wade, I never felt like I was better than you or anyone else. I was awkward and so tall that I was ashamed of my height and slumped until I got into the military. The only time I stood up straight was when I was a cheerleader. I imagine I was chosen because I was tall and could be the bottom of the pyramid during cheers.”